Sitharaman Meets AIIB President To Deepen India–AIIB Partnership

New Delhi, Mar 3 (KNN) Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met Zou Jiayi, the newly appointed President of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), in New Delhi to discuss ways to deepen and expand the India–AIIB partnership.

Scaling Up Investments in Member Countries

Representing the second-largest shareholder in AIIB, Sitharaman underscored the need to scale up investments across AIIB member countries, particularly low-income nations. 

She emphasised the use of innovative financing and non-financing instruments to enhance development impact and ensure sustainable infrastructure growth.

The Finance Minister highlighted India’s continued emphasis on infrastructure-led growth under the Union Budget and discussed enhanced collaboration with AIIB, including early upstream engagement in infrastructure planning and project preparation in India.

Focus on Capital Markets and Project Approvals

Among key issues raised during the meeting were strengthening AIIB’s role in developing capital markets, expediting project approvals in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh and establishing a regional AIIB office in India, considering the scale and volume of the Bank’s operations in the country.

AIIB commenced operations in 2016 with 57 founding members (37 regional and 20 non-regional). By the end of 2020, its membership had expanded to 103 approved members, representing nearly 79 percent of the global population and 65 percent of global GDP.

Meeting with Francois-Philippe Champagne

Earlier, Sitharaman also met François-Philippe Champagne, Canada’s Minister of Finance, in New Delhi. The two leaders held constructive discussions on enhancing collaboration in investment, fintech and the broader financial sector.

Both Ministers expressed their shared interest in convening the inaugural India–Canada Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD) at the earliest opportunity to further strengthen economic and financial cooperation between the two countries.

The series of engagements reflects India’s ongoing efforts to deepen multilateral development partnerships and strengthen bilateral financial cooperation with key global economies.

(KNN Bureau)